1). I would like to know that if a retailer starts his business in a local market, then please tell me is there any creteria not to maintain books of accounts and if yes then up to what limit. and if no then what should he do, so that he should not be faced any problem in relation with sales tax deptt and income tax deptt.
24 December 2007
There can not be a criteria for not maintaining the books. If he does not maintain he runs the risk of being assessed on 'best judgement' basis of the authorities concerned!
25 December 2007
[Maintenance of accounts by certain persons carrying on profession or business.
9844AA. (1) Every person carrying on legal, medical, engineering or architectural profession or the profession of accountancy or technical consultancy or interior decoration or any other profession as is notified99 by the Board in the Official Gazette shall keep and maintain such books of account and other documents as may enable the 1[Assessing] Officer to compute his total income in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2) Every person carrying on business or profession [not being a profession referred to in sub-section (1)] shall,—
(i) if his income from business or profession exceeds 2[one lakh twenty] thousand rupees or his total sales, turnover or gross receipts, as the case may be, in business or profession exceed or exceeds 3[ten lakh] rupees in any one of the three years immediately preceding the previous year; or
(ii) where the business or profession is newly set up in any previous year, if his income from business or profession is likely to exceed 4[one lakh twenty] thousand rupees or his total sales, turnover or gross receipts, as the case may be, in business or profession are or is likely to exceed 5[ten lakh] rupees, 6[during such previous year; or
(iii) where the profits and gains from the business are deemed to be the profits and gains of the assessee under section 44AD or section 44AE or section 44AF 7[or section 44BB or section 44BBB], as the case may be, and the assessee has claimed his income to be lower than the profits or gains so deemed to be the profits and gains of his business, as the case may be, during such previous year,]
keep and maintain such books of account and other documents as may enable the 8[Assessing] Officer to compute his total income in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(3) The Board may, having regard to the nature of the business or profession carried on by any class of persons, prescribe9, by rules, the books of account and other documents (including inventories, wherever necessary) to be kept and maintained under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the particulars to be contained therein and the form and the manner in which and the place at which they shall be kept and maintained.
(4) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (3), the Board may prescribe, by rules, the period for which the books of account and other documents to be kept and maintained under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be retained.]
25 December 2007
Special provisions for computing profits and gains of retail business.
44AF. (1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in sections 28 to 43C, in the case of an assessee engaged in retail trade in any goods or merchandise, a sum equal to five per cent of the total turnover in the previous year on account of such business or, as the case may be, a sum higher than the aforesaid sum as declared by the assessee in his return of income shall be deemed to be the profits and gains of such business chargeable to tax under the head “Profits and gains of business or profession” :
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply in respect of an assessee whose total turnover exceeds an amount of forty lakh rupees in the previous year.
(2) Any deduction allowable under the provisions of sections 30 to 38 shall, for the purposes of sub-section (1), be deemed to have been already given full effect to and no further deduction under those sections shall be allowed :
Provided that where the assessee is a firm, the salary and interest paid to its partners shall be deducted from the income computed under sub-section (1) subject to the conditions and limits specified in clause (b) of section 40.
(3) The written down value of any asset used for the purpose of the business referred to in sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have been calculated as if the assessee had claimed and had been actually allowed the deduction in respect of the depreciation for each of the relevant assessment years.
(4) The provisions of sections 44AA and 44AB shall not apply in so far as they relate to the business referred to in sub-section (1) and in computing the monetary limits under those sections, the total turnover or, as the case may be, the income from the said business shall be excluded.]
41[(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, an assessee may claim lower profits and gains than the profits and gains specified in sub-section (1), if he keeps and maintains such books of account and other documents as required under sub-section (2) of section 44AA and gets his accounts audited and furnishes a report of such audit as required under section 44AB.]